


Prism

by the-eagle-of-masyaf (Dunkelherz)



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Assassination, Canon-Typical Violence, D/s, D/s relationship, Dark, Dominance, Drama, Explicit Language, M/M, Male Slash, Psychological Trauma, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Submissive, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 10:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1004312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dunkelherz/pseuds/the-eagle-of-masyaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You see, moral is a fickle thing. Morals are like a prism, allowing you to pick the angle and color that suits you best. Justice is white light, it's unchanging. And while we might be lacking in the first department, justice is what we do. We are not the good guys here- we do the dirty work."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prism

“How about you're going to empty that drink of yours and instead follow me to the back so we can have some fun honey?”

  
  


He looked up at her. She wore some pungent, sweet perfume that almost gave him instantly a headache as soon as she'd leaned down to him, presenting her breasts into his face with a hollow smile on her lips. Her blond hair was fake as well as her long red fingernails which she used now to scratch him gently in the neck with. “Get lost”, he muttered underneath his breath, disgusted by her whole appearance and how her breath smelled of cheap alcohol.

  
  


“My my, are you in a bad mood? I could fix that for you”, she purred and lifted one of her legs to straddle his thigh so her skirt rode up all the way to her crotch, sitting down on it and wrapping both arms around his neck. She was smiling still even though Ahe was grabbing his glass so hard now that his knuckles turned white. It was about to shatter any moment now and she misunderstood his trembling completely because her smile only widened. “I could help you relax”, she whispered as she leaned towards, her lips touching his ear. “You would not regret it.”

  
  


She had no idea in what danger she was right now. She had now idea that while she was grinding her crotch against his leg so he could feel even through his jeans that she wasn't wearing any underwear, he'd started playing with the trigger of his knife to pierce her throat with it. He could already see the wide, empty look in her eyes when the cool silver would break through skin, bone and muscles, could already imagine how her warm blood would feel when it dripped down her body and over his hands. He could almost hear her soft little whimpers when she tried to breath with a destroyed windpipe. All she needed to do was to push a little further so he'd have a reason to end that pitiful live of hers but-

  
  


“I said... get lost you fucking whore”, he told her again, leaning backwards and into his chair to get some distance between them. “Excuse me?”, she asked him in a sober voice now, sitting a little up on his leg and straightened her back. “What did you just call me?”

  
  


“You know exactly what I've called you. Get lost. I won't repeat myself a third time.” He braced himself for the slap in his face which was probably about to come in three, two, one- And yes, there it was, her anger just as hot as his cheek was now but he didn't care, almost didn't feel the pain. He looked up at her, unimpressed, when she stood, glaring down on him. “Fucking faggot”, she spat at him and some spittle hit his cheek but he didn't bother to brush it away. He just hoped she would stop making a scene and get going. “You fucking little faggot”, she hissed at him once more before she turned around, vanishing in the crowd of people standing all in front of the bar. It was almost 1 am, the bar was about to close and it wouldn't take much longer for them to call the last round. Plus it was a Friday night and in a god forbidden place like this, where the next city was more than 200 miles away, everybody of the small Alaska town and who was over 21 was here tonight. So yes, it was more than crowded and he had been glad he'd gotten a seat at one of the small tables standing next to one of the walls from where he had a good look at the whole bar.

  
  


All of his attention lay on on single guy though. A guy who was currently drinking with his buddies, it was his eighth beer, he had counted and he didn't look as if he'd be able to walk straight – which would make all of this so much easier. It was easy for him that his target stayed with his friends to drink. He didn't move around the bar so it wasn't a problem for him to keep track of him. It only took Pete another twenty four minutes before he pulled out his wallet and left a few dollar notes on the table, turning to his friends to say his good byes to them.

  
  


Pete honestly looked like your good guy neighbor. He was in his fourties and had light brown hair which looked ginger in the right light, a wide charming smile and bright green eyes. He wasn't that handsome though, he thought he looked pretty average but he was the one guy you could always count on. Your heater stopped working in the middle of the night? Don't worry, call Pete and he'll come right away. Need a ride in the morning to work but your car battery died because of the damn cold? Just call Pete, he'll pick you up. Yes, Pete had a lot of friends and was liked by almost everybody, especially when his friends needed a babysitter because Pete was single and didn't have a girlfriend and no kids of his own and he just _loved_ them and loved to help his friends out. Pete was a pretty down to the earth man. He didn't brag around, he wasn't smug, no, Pete was like you'd imagined your very best friend. He also liked routine. On Wednesday was poker's night at Michael's, one of Pete's friends who had a boy and a daughter with Karen. Karen took the kids out at poker's night for pizza so Michael and his friends could sit in the garage, have a few beers and play cards. On Thursday Pete went to the community center after work where he taught Karate to kids so yes, when he had learned Pete got the black belt, the whole assignment got more exciting for him. On Friday... Well, on Friday Pete did what everybody else did. He went to Aunt Molly. Aunt Molly was the name of the old wrecked bar he was currently sitting in watching his target. Aunt Molly was pretty much the only place you could go to in this small town and Pete was no different than anybody else. Pete wasn't much of a drinker but today they got something to celebrate. Joe, one of Pete's friends had gotten engaged just a day before so today they simply wanted to have a good time and celebrate. Maybe the black belt would make it more of a challenge than simply killing sheep as it usually went. 

  
  


Yes, he had done his homework. He'd gathered as much information as he needed to make his final move and tonight was the night. Pete got up, he was a bit wobbly on his legs and left the bar. He waited a minute or two before he paid for his own drink by leaving a 20 dollar bill and stood to leave as well. He knew Pete would go home and he knew where he lived, plus Pete was pretty drunk so he wasn't afraid to lose him and granted him a few minutes ahead before he'd catch up with him.

  
  


The cold air outside hit him like a wall and the snow underneath his boots gnashed loudly with every step. He doubted Pete would pay the sound of his steps any attention, especially not as he was singing to himself now as he walked -or rather tottered- down the empty street. A few cars were parked in front of the bar but most people would get picked up once Aunt Molly closed for the night but right now, the streets were empty since there was only a small store and a gas station in the city and that pretty much was it. He kept his distance to Pete and waited until he left the main street, making his way to his own house. It was a five mile walk but Pete had walked that much in the past a lot, so it really wasn't a big deal for him. Soon they left the last few houses behind them and trees rose to the side of the street the deeper they got into the beautiful wilderness that made Alaska what it was. Pete lived in a small cottage a few miles into the woods. He was a man who liked the company of others but who liked to keep his privacy. Once he had turned onto the small snow covered gravel road that would end at his house, he sped up.

  
  


He was right about Pete, he was drunk, very drunk and it was easy for him to catch up with him. The fingers of his left hand twitched and when Pete finally turned around it was already too late. His eyes went wide with fear as his assailant leapt forwards, left arm up while his right one grabbed for Pete's throat. He never got a chance to scream, his blade pierced his skin right underneath his jaw, cutting through his vocal chords. Pete's legs gave away and he got him by supporting the small of his back, gently laying him down and kneeling next to the man's paralyzed body. “You want to know who I am”, he told him in a low voice, his breath gathering in a fine white cloud right in front of his face. His blade was still stuck in Pete's throat, the tip visible at the back of his neck. “I'm the man who's going to serve justice tonight”, he whispered hoarsely as he leaned close to the man's ear before he pulled his blade free, a gush of blood following as it now flow down Pete's chest, dying the snow red, almost black.

  
  


He leaned his head to one side, Pete stared up at him with wide eyes, full of fear. Good. “You're going to die soon”, he told him. “Nobody will come. This is how you pay for your sins Pete Mitchell.” He liked the look in their eyes the most especially when he paralyzed his targets like he'd done with Pete. Not only had he cut through Pete's vocal chords but also through his spine, paralyzing the man from the neck down, making it impossible for him to move or even breath so really, he was curios which would be the cause of death this time, him suffocating or bleeding to death 

  
  


The scent of blood hung rich in the air, mixed with the smell of piss and shit since Pete could no longer control his muscles. He watched him with cold eyes, watched how the panic took over the fear, how his pale face turned purple, then blue. There was no sound rising in the cold night's air, no scream or sob, nothing. Pete died by suffocating, his blood still pouring down over his murderer’s hand. Pete's heart had stopped beating but his was pumping wildly. Adrenaline was rushing through every fiber of his body and made him almost feel feverish. This was the rush of killing, this was how it felt when he'd done good.

  
  


He slowly let go of Pete and stood, turning his head from one side to the other with his neck cracking loudly. He tried to relish the feeling as long as possible but his little high never lastec for more than just a few seconds and soon, he could feel the cold of the night eating its way through his clothes down to his bones and reality hit him with full speed. He looked down at the corpse. Now the really ugly part of his job would start. He better get rid of Pete.

  
  


**xxx**

  
  


Malik smiled satisfied when the steam of freshly brewed coffee stroke his cheeks like the touch of an old lover, its scent invading his nose and making his stomach growling. Soon his bread would be ready as well and there was just no better way to start your day than with freshly baked still warm bread, some strawberry marmalade, a hard-boiled egg and, most important, coffee. He especially liked to start his Saturdays like this which just happened to be today and when he waited for the last coffee to run through the machine he looked outside the big window, admiring the view he had of the lake from his house. It was a beautiful winter day, the sun was climbing over a clear blue sky, the mountains in the distance glistening with freshly fallen snow. In moments like this Malik was absolutely sure that the best decision in his entire life had been to buy this place – or maybe second best. None the less, he liked it here in winter as well as in summer. He loved to sit in front of his fire place during cold winter days with a cup of tea in his hands as well as he loved to take an early swim in the lake in summer before the sun had even risen. This place was his sanctuary and Malik couldn't think of a better place he liked to be at the moment.

  
  


The little bell of his baking machine told him his bread was ready and he put it out to prepare everything for his breakfast. Once everything was how it was supposed to be Malik sat down at the counter from where he could overlook the living room area which was a bit lower than the kitchen, three stairs leading down to it. His house was big enough to host a whole family but Malik needed the space, he liked to have his privacy. He turned on his laptop and waited for it to start. This was the only thing he really missed, his morning paper. There was just now way for the paperboy to ride 45 miles into the wilderness on his bike to deliver the newspaper to Malik's doorstep so he had to read the news up on his laptop. He looked up the news for Tanana, a small city in Alaska with a population of not even 300. There were only a few news, mostly it were just police logs but then he found one that was rather interesting. Pete Mitchell, 35 years old, single, had gone missing eight days ago. So far there wasn't anything that would lead to a crime but it couldn't be ruled out. They were still searching for him but so far it seemed as if Pete Mitchell had vanished into thin air.

  
  


Malik smiled to himself and licked one of his fingers that had gotten a bit of marmalade on it. This was good news and only made his mood better and after he checked the weather report and swallowed the last piece of bread. he got up to get his boots on to leave the house. Today was Saturday after all which meant he would get his mail. He was already dressed and it might be Saturday but that didn't mean Malik slept in. He usually got up around 5 am, every day, and liked to exercise before he would shower, make breakfast and then start the day. The weekends were no different.

  
  


The air smelled of snow when he opened the door and went down on one knee when he could hear that Abbas was already up on his feet to greet him. Sure thing, only a second later, he saw the black shadow running over the little gravel road leading up to his house and only a moment later he found himself almost knocked down to the earth and his arms full of German Shepherd dog. “Good morning to you little one”, he laughed although Abbas was by far not little anymore but he wasn't full grown yet either. He was only a year old, still lacked some manners but he was Malik's most precious. Abbas was living outside most of the time but Malik had built him a hut as well which was by all means no ordinary hut but really big that it almost had the size of a garage that could fit two cars. It was also connected to the house which meant Abbas could come and go as he liked. There was a fence around the house anyway so he didn't have to worry for Abbas to wander around too far. “God your breath smells awful”, Malik chuckled and ruffled the fur before he gathered all of his strength to get up again. After all, Abbas was a fucking German Shepherd and they were strong. “Come on, let's go fetch the mail”, he told him and let him run ahead, following him up to the end of the road where the mailbox was. Abbas was running around him with way too much energy and he knocked Malik almost over more than just one time.

  
  


Abbas behavior didn't stop once Malik had reached the box and pulled out a few letters but he stopped paying his dog attention as soon as he read one of the sender's name. “Fucking hell”, he muttered underneath his breath and turned around to go back to the house, Abbas barking at a rabbit or something in the distance. Malik looked through the other letters but they were mostly bills and he whistled and heard Abbas barking some more before his paws were running over the ground and into the house once Malik held the door open for him.

  
  


As soon as he was inside he dropped the bills on the small table next to the entrance and ripped the other one right open. He quickly read through it before his jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth and he tore the letter into pieces and threw it into the trash bin. He shook his head, eyes falling on Abbas who was sitting in front of one of the windows, looking outside with swinging tail. Right – this was his home now and the letter and what stood in there was his past. For a moment he thought about to just go grab Abbas so he could hike some with him in the mountains but decided against it. When he’d checked his emails that morning there’d been a rather interesting one and he wanted to take a look at it again, maybe do some background work as well. “Alright”, he groaned and looked up the ceiling while rubbing his throat. “Let’s get to work, shall we?” Abbas looked at him, head cocked to one side and answered with a big, long yawn of his.

  
  


**xxx**

  
  


It was late in the evening when Abbas started barking at the door. Malik had closed the door of his hut which lead outside because the nights got too cold now for Abbas to go outside anyway and the dog had spent his evening with Malik on the couch in front of the fire place with Malik reading his book. He looked up now at why Abbas had gotten up, his glasses riding low on his nose. He heard a rattle and Abbas barked even louder but then the door opened and Abbas was up like a flash, jumping up the figure standing at the door.

  
  


“Ow you big fu-... ball of fur, don't do that!”

  
  


“He's happy to see you, let him have his moment”, Malik called over and gently pulled his glasses from his nose before he closed his book and placed it onto the small coffee table while he heard more cursing and more claws scratching over the wooden floor before he finally whistled lowly so Abbas let go. “Sit”, he said in a calm voice and the dog did - Altair’s finger twitched, and for a moment, Malik thought Altair would follow the order as well. It wouldn’t surprise him. “You're home late.”

  
  


“It started fucking snowing-”

  
  


“I don't like it when you curse”, Malik said and he got up and walked up to Altair, leaned a little around the man to close the door behind him since it got cold, then stood back and straightened his back while Abbas looked from one man to the other. “But it's good you're back. You were gone for an awfully long time”, he muttered in the end and his hand hovered over Altair’s shoulder but he didn’t close the gap but instead pulled away.. 

  
  


“It started snowing”, he said again and just let Malik look him once over as if to make sure he was really alright. “The flight got delayed and driving was hell.” Altair put the bag he was carrying next to his side. There were snowflakes melting on his shoulder. “I didn’t know it started to snow. It only snowed in the mountains the last few days”, Malik said. He usually didn’t bother much with the weather forecast unless it was important for a job which currently wasn’t the case.

  
  


“Yeah well it started snowing in Alaska two months ago.” Malik had already made his way inside the living room and waited for Altair to get out of his shoes, his coat following. Malik didn’t sit down though but headed for the small cabinet where they stored the liquor. Altair wasn’t a drinker really but he knew he liked to sometimes drink a glass of whiskey to warm himself up, so he poured him a glass and carried it over to the coffee table. “I checked the news this morning”, Malik said and watched how Altair took a seat next to him. He sat so his thigh wouldn’t touch Malik’s, back straight and all tense. Malik didn’t comment on it. “It sounded as if you were successful.”

  
  


“I’m always successful”, Altair muttered and reached for the glass but Malik was faster and wrapped his fingers around Altair’s wrist mere inches before he could reach his goal. “And you’re cocky”, Malik said in a low voice. “What is it boy? Come on spit it already. It’s not the first time you’ve killed you don’t need to hold back around me.” It was now that he could feel how Altair was trembling which he thought wasn’t that odd, but Pete had been a rather small fish and usually Altair was only this worked up after he’d done something big. Pete’s kill was eight days ago, he knew how Altair was only mere seconds after he’d assassinated somebody and he was acting like this right now - which _was_ odd. “Everything went fine, right?”, he asked in a stern voice. He knew the answer to that though. Altair always worked correctly, he never slipped, never had once. He was a professional, he was good with what he was doing. 

  
  


“Everything went well”, Altair said and his voice sounded almost mechanic as if it wasn’t his own. “Pete’s dead, I took care of the corpse and nobody saw me.” Malik slowly let go of Altair’s wrist and as soon as his fingers slipped off of it, he made a grab for the glass of whiskey and swallowed it in one go. Malik watched him from the corner of his eye while he heard Abbas trotting over the wooden floor behind them before he turned a few times and finally let himself fall down with a huff, nose pressed up the window and looking out into the dark. “Then what is it?”

  
  


“It’s nothing.”

  
  


Malik snorted at that. “Nothing”, he muttered underneath his breath because if Altair wanted to be like that then fine, he didn’t have to take up with his shit. He’d known him for too long now, Malik knew better. He’d made that mistake more than one time in the past, trying to get something out of Altair but the man was an absolute master when it came to keep his mouth shut. Altair didn’t talk - unless he wanted to, simple as that. “Alright then”, he sighed a few seconds later and Altair was sitting on the couch as if somebody had turned him into stone. Oh fuck it... “Was it because Pete liked to fuck little children?” Damn it, he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut today but Altair didn’t move, was acting as if he hadn’t even heard Malik and he took that as a no. Alrigh. “Some lady from Wisconsin contacted me today, wants me to take out her husband.” He saw how Altair’s eye rolled sideways, watching Malik closely from the corner of his eye. “I declined”, Malik said just as Altair was about to open his mouth to form a question. “I did some background check on her and her husband. She’s been fucking around with her neighbor the last few years. Malik laughed dry, bitterly. “I guess divorce isn’t an option today. Her husband came out clean by the way.”

  
  


“Don’t we go after her?”, Altair asked after a short while and it was confusing, really, because his voice sounded all small now. Malik frowned. “No we don’t”, he scoffed. “Why would you think that anyway? You know we don’t.”

  
  


Altair was silent for a whole of three seconds, gnawing on his lower lip. 

  
  


Malik didn’t say anything but kept waiting. He knew better than to push Altair now. “We’ve been doing this for too long now”, Altair said and turned his head to look at Malik. “Going after scum like Pete.”

“We’re going after those who deserve it”, Malik said slowly. “No matter if it’s a big drug lord or a pedophile.” 

  
  


“It’s not enough”, Altair said and stared down at his hands in his lap, palms up as if he saw something there Malik didn’t. 

  
  


“Since when was it ever enough?”, Malik asked seriously and when Altair didn’t say anything else he slowly got up. Altair was miles away, he could see it in his eyes. He was completely out of it and most of the times, there was only one way to fix it. Malik run his fingers through his hair before he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, glancing at Abbas who was quietly snoring, one of his legs twitching. “Okay”, he said eventually. “Okay. Let’s fix you first and then… then we talk about that woman in Wisconsin.”


End file.
